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The heart of all our deepest visualization dreams is to empower you with the software and services that you need to do your best work. It’s this passion that we pursue, and we could not be happier to see it displayed in its full glory by our 3DEXCITE colleagues in Munich, Germany, during last week’s 3DEXCITE Live!

Let’s rewind and catch you up a bit (we promise not to Tarantino-it up with hip and stylized chronological distortions).

3DEXCITE Live! took place in wundershön (meaning beautiful in German) Munich, Germany from May 21 – 22. 3DEXCITE leveraged all of its visualization prowess to show the world that we mean serious, photoreal business. What exactly was shown? Let’s dive right in with a few short videos that briefly highlight the 2 days:

And now for a little more in-depth analysis of the goings on and general schenanigans:

3DEXCITE BUNKSPEED
No Visualization gathering is complete without a little 3DEXCITE BUNKSPEED ZOOM to spice up the 3D affairs! This year’s 3DEXCITE Live! built on the momentum that we have been generating at events like SOLIDWORKS World and GTC, as we continue to up our game to bring you the best fast, easy, fun rendering solutions. In the image above, we are showcasing the Live Update feature that allows models to be tweaked and altered in SOLIDWORKS, and correspondingly updated in BUNKSPEED at the click of a button.

Speaker Sessions
With speakers from brands such as: Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, ECCO, Toyota Motor Europe, Honda and Mooney International all touting the time, cost and process improvements that are possible with a 3D Visualization workflow, the guests of 3DEXCITE Live! were treated to a master-class in the the revolution that is taking place at all levels within many top brands – from design to marketing.

Visual Point Of Sale (POS) Configurators
Personalized Configuration has long been close to 3DEXCITE’s heart, and we were in customization heaven, over how it was shown at 3DEXCITE Live! In the image above, you can see a gorgeous Cadillac coupe (on right) and a large transparent touchscreen display (on left). The touchscreen acts as a heads up display (HUD) for the experience, and allows guests to easily configure the car to their liking. The coupe on the right is actually a a blank mold, and is being projected onto via overhead projectors, allowing colors and styles to be changed on the fly (with fun animations to boot!) as users interact with the experience.

Visual Immersive Experience
If you can imagine having a virtual, interactive world at your fingertips, then you’ve grasped the concept behind the Visual Immersive Experience. In lieu of the creation of physical prototypes to test the validity of products in real-world circumstances, designers can test virtual prototypes to view and interact with them in much the same way as they would with their manufactured prototypes.

Also, with the dynamism and flexibility of a virtual environment, the Visual Immersive Experience is a dynamically fluid virtual environment, allowing one physical location to become nearly any virtual training ground. Visual training can be used to bring employees up-to-date on complex maintenance and manufacturing processes that would otherwise be time consuming and logistically challenging to roll out on a large scale.

3DEXCITE STELLA(R)!
Sorry, we can’t help a little trip back to Stanely Kowalski-ville from Streetcar whenever we hear the name of our next gen renderer: STELLAR. Simply put, STELLAR (renderings seen above) is the technology that is destined to unify rendering across 3DEXCITE BUNKSPEED, 3DEXCITE DELTAGEN and other software in the Dassault Systèmes porfolio. With the advantage of delivering highly accurate results that are consistent across applications, STELLAR is poised to revolutionize and simplify the rendering workflow.

Visual Material Digitalization & Management
3DEXCITE has introduced SMARTSCAN, a groundbreaking scanning technology that captures lifelike information, such as depth, light reflection and transparency from the materials it scans. This unique technology scans 75% faster than traditional methods, thus enabling the quick and efficient visualization of many different products and their variations. Case in point: this technology would be just as at home in any retail chain or footwear company’s workflow, that has to market many clothing articles every season.

While we have already hazarded sending our kind readers (AKA you) into content overload, we will take a break from the info-tainment for a moment, so that you still have time to do all the great work you’ve gotta do! Thanks for being a loyal reader and 3DEXCITE BUNKSPEED follower!

Feel free to give us a shout in the comments below, or via one of our social media outlets to share your thoughts and point of view. 3DEXCITE BUNKSPEEDers are always welcome!

We’re plain ol’ suckers for buzz-words that mean pretty things, such as: global illumination, Visual Computing Appliance and real-time ray tracing, to name a few. And every year, NVIDIA throws the gigantic tech-splosion known as the GPU Technology Conference, which thrills us with gadgets and wizardry that causes our brains to do a strange little happy dance. GTC 2015 took over the San Jose McEnery Convention Center from March 16 – 20, and we want to (over)share with you a lil’.

Here’s what we did: THE STORY

In brief, we are part of the Dassault Systèmes family, which means that together, we tell a complete 3D story from start to finish. Our family (in a friendly, non-Sopranos sort of way) provides software and services that bring products and designs to life, guiding individuals, businesses and brands through the design, engineering and marketing phases of development.

This is the essence of the story we told at GTC. 3D is what’s revolutionizing the design and marketing industry, and we enjoy sharing in that movement with all of you. We partnered with our good friends at CATIA and assembled a team (let’s call them “trade show artists” and hope they don’t rebel, or start wearing hemp) to show the GPU lovin’ free world how fluid and downright productive the journey from initial concept, all the way through marketing, can be.

Here’s how it worked: THE (non-emotional) BREAKDOWN

The good people at CATIA showed why their software is a leader in the design and engineering fields across industries ranging from Aerospace & Defense, Transportation & Mobility and Consumer Goods & Retail. In English, this means they demoed a rad plane, car and camera model in their design-centric software. Learn more about CATIA here.

CATIA in action.

And after the initial design and engineering phases of a project are completed, how does the 3D story continue? Let’s dig a little deeper.

In the very same booth as our CATIA comrades, we showcased a fully interactive demo that displayed a gorgeous personal jet configurator, which allowed users to interact with it via an enormous touch screen monitor. Models created in CATIA, and many other 3D software brands, can be imported into our software and given a photorealistic spit shine and placed into highly customizeable configurators, bringing products to life in a way that is only possible in 3D.

As interaction with the jet demo began, users were given the option to tailor the interior and exterior of the great flying machine to their liking. Nearly every surface, from end-to-end, of the plane can be customized with various paint colors, trim levels and fabric. This kind of configurator experience is often applied to products ranging from rip-roarin’ sports cars to luxury handbags or comfy running shoes. Our passion, with each experience, is to personalize it according to our client’s brand, enabling them to share a compelling, fun and interactive marketing message with their customers.

The personal jet configurator…also in action.

Next, we reached deep into our iPads, and hand-cranked the engine in our McLaren P1 and 650s Augmented Reality Experiences. Conference attendees were given an interactive excursion that showed how consumers, designers and Marketing Professionals can configure and present their products in exciting and truly personal ways.

After we gave an enthusiastic rendition of what is possible by incorporating 3D in the design, engineering and marketing workflow, we ventured over to NVIDIA’s Special Event on Thursday night, and, well, we danced. We possibly grooved. Some more than others. Some more embarrassingly than others. Some in ways that cannot be explained to others. It’s OK, though. We can still generally look each other in the eye at the office. And that reminds us…

We have 3D Visualization worlds to explore, and we want to hear about yours!

Give us a shout via the social media links below, and share your journey to Photorealistic Perfection with us!

We are all travelers on the same road, and we can’t wait for what’s next.

There are 3 things we can count on in life: We are born, we die, and we have SOLIDWORKS World (taxes should maybe fit in there somewhere too).

Every year, the best and the brightest in the SOLIDWORKS user community gather together to glory in the latest 3D Design and Technology like giddy school children scampering at recess. And boy, do they know how to scamper.

We jumped into the fray, and were pleased to be an integral part of our parent company’s (Dassault Systèmes) booth, in the Partner Pavilion. Strategically located between our sister brands SIMULIA (advanced simulation) and SPATIAL (3D Software Components for engineering apps), 3DEXCITE BUNKSPEED showed how we lend visual credibility to engineering data.

Let’s face it. In this day and age, math and bare-bone models don’t do the trick. Everyone has to start there, but you wouldn’t pay to see Spider-Man, swinging around the streets of NYC, without the requisite photoreal visual flair. Neither would you want to present a design to a colleague, peer or stakeholder, without a high level of realism, that lets viewers experience your ideas in their full, vibrant intention.

As you know, this is where BUNKSPEED comes into play. At #SWW15 (cause we love hashtags!) we showed SOLIDWORKS enthusiasts how to make their designs beautiful, and maybe add a little somethin’ extra. We demonstrated the ease at which files are imported and made visually compelling for presentation and marketing purposes. We also showed how Augmented Reality (with our trusty McLaren AR App), can revitalize everything from sales pitches or design reviews, to positioning in the retail space.

David Randle, our General Manager, gave 2 talks at SOLIDWORKS World, detailing how to make BUNKSPEED a proverbial “camera” for SOLIDWORKS designs. If you didn’t get to attend, David would be happy to take a brisk walk around the block and tell you all the facts personally, cause he’s cool like that (note: he might not be cool like that). The gist of his talks was: if you want to show the world how your ideas could look in real life, even at the earliest stages of the design process, then call on BUNKSPEED.

The days of the show were chock full of meeting eager conference-goers, resellers and other industry professionals, who wanted to learn more about what 3D Visualization is really all about. We also gave hands-on software demos, both in our booth, and in at Dell’s, to show how we deliver on our FAST, EASY and FUN commitment.

As we finished out the show on Feb 11, we had the feeling that we came to the right place. We empower designers, engineers and marketing professionals with powerful 3D Visualization tools to make their ideas stand out with the visual advantage that they need. And we intend to keep pushing the boundaries.

Let’s make this Visualization Revolution a thing of beauty, that brings daring designs to the forefront of the world’s attention. And then we can continue to scamper. Cause we think it’s in our DNA.

When you finish the first chapter of a spellbinding thriller, you can savor the moment when you realize that you have many more chapters to look forward to.

This was our outlook as we boxed up our workstations, pencils, and various other gadgetry from our old office at 751 N. Fair Oaks Ave in Pasadena, CA, and jetted over to 70 South Lake Avenue in Pasadena, CA. We haven’t moved far, but the view sure has changed!

What we left behind was the old: stuff we don’t need anymore. We are now leaner (but not meaner), and more focused than ever on the journey ahead.

We look forward to the opportunities afforded by our new space: more meeting rooms (high five for more collaboration), a fresh interior (with some very green paint), and local eateries that just might start knowing us all by name. What’s more: we can’t wait to continue to serve up the best in 3D Visualization and Marketing Experiences. The Fast, Easy, Fun mantra is as present in our minds as it ever was. We may even put it to music. But maybe that waits until 2016.

OUR MISSION: We are here to continue to help you make your designs, products and marketing efforts visually compelling, vibrant and meaningful. As we advance on 2015 with a cool, Eastwood-esque stealy gaze, we bellow, from the very bottom of our digital, render-hungry hearts, a collective, “HUZZAH (cause we feel comfortable enough around each other to do things like that when we get all excited about OUR MISSION)”!

We are beyond thrilled to have our software in your design/marketing toolbox, and we thank you so greatly for sharing all of your great work, feedback and stellar ideas with us! Please keep reaching out to us and sharing about the great work you are doing, whether by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or our Forum. We look forward to continuing to serve your visualization needs, breaking new ground and maybe even trying that spicy Thai dish we’ve been afraid of for so long. Keep a look out. 2015 means business.

We’re all friends here, right? Ok, good. Then we’ll open up our hibiscus tea-infused minds and spill the beans on what’s in store for 2015.

First off – HAPPY NEW YEAR. We are plain floored as we watch time fly by, and continue to crank out the Fast. Easy. Fun., so you can spend more time being what you are at heart – warm-blooded, creative, futurists – and less time bothering with technical blah, blah that really only adjusts your viewport’s aspect ratio. You get the picture. We value the time we have with those we love. So this means we are hugging more. It’s a little weird at first.

CES 2015 – The Consumer Electronics Show. What can we say, but, WOW. From Jan 6 – 9, 2015, we hit Las Vegas like a ton of bricks (but, you know, softer), and and wove the fabric of the consumer electronics industry into the very marrow of our Vitamin D enriched bones. We had fun, we shared some killer demos and technology, and we did more of the above-mentioned hugging. It’s still kind of weird.

Here’s the scoop: @ booth #72722, in the Sands Expo Center, we joined with scores of other technology-driven groups to trumpet some of our best and brightest offerings and innovations. Case in point – our partnership with Christie Digital, Ventuz, and 3DEXCITE’s DELTAGEN software yielded a visually stunning Corvette C7 Stingray configurator in Christie’s Interactive Design Studio – a killer app for any design-driven organization. Picture it as an innovative way to configure your new car in an automotive dealership scenario. Or, use make use of its immersive display and touch screen technology for high-level design reviews. Users are able to quickly and easily simulate real-world scenarios and switch between vehicle design and engineering characteristics (via projection mapping on a 1/5 scale 3D printed Stingray), all before even laying eyes on a physical prototype. The sky is the limit, and this Interactive Design Studio is so very, very pretty.

We also brought iPads aplenty to demonstrate our McLaren P1, 650s and Your Product Here Augmented Reality Apps. Both McLaren apps (P1 and 650s), provide car enthusiasts and white knuckled commuters with the opportunity to interact with a McLaren without the famed automobile ever actually being in the room. It is almost too cool.

With the 650s, you can configure the car of your dreams – switching paint colors, interior trim and even the wheels and brake calipers – all from the comfort of your iPad. You can also take a picture of your driveway with your iPad, and place your personally customized AR McLaren in the picture, to give yourself some idea of what life might be like someday. Download the free app on iTunes, or Google Play.

The McLaren P1 is the original McLaren AR app. Tap to raise and lower the interactive spoiler, drag the slider to simulate airflow around the vehicle and watch your jaw drop as you interact with technical touch points to learn all about the P1’s many powerful features. The P1 app also is a free download on the iTunes or Google Play stores.

The Your Product Here (YPH) AR app is designed to lend brands, retailers and designers a hand in making their products shine. Maybe you are a retailer with little shelf space, and you wish to highlight your latest offerings without overcrowding your store shelves. With YPH, you can display a nearly infinite array of AR product via a single iPad. Our app features lifestyle, fashion, aerospace and luxury experiences, all aimed at showing you how AR can literally augment a diverse range of industries. YPH is a free download on the iTunes store.

To sum up about CES – it’s as if the show took our breath away, and then asked us to remain underwater for another 5 minutes. Sometimes she can be cruel, but the leading electronics show, with over 170,000 attendees, still showed us enough love that we can’t wait for 2016.

Now that we’re getting back to business as usual, our narrowed eyes and furrowed brows are aimed straight at Solidworks World (Feb 8 – 11 in Arizona). More AR and 3DEXCITE BUNKSPEED goodness will be there, so stay tuned for updates on all the action!

That’s enough about us. What’s in store for you in 2015? New glasses? Finally trying the ‘hawk / ‘stache combo? Spontaneous swing dancing in public? Either way, we think you’re fantastic just the way you are. And we don’t mind if you take a rain check on the hug. We’re pretty cool about it.

Join the 3D Visualization conversation on FB. Can’t wait to see you there!

Thanks to all the BUNKSPEED rockstars who submitted imagery for our Holiday Still Image Contest, and who consistently flood our FB page, forum and email with your great work! We could not have a thriving visualization community without you, and we salute the meticulous efforts, with which you craft your designs and imagery.

Peter Hildebrandt is one such BUNKSPEED user who consistently wows us with the innovative ways he finds to make use of our software. His Lonely Snowman image really caught our eye, and made our judges give do a little happy dance while unanimously voting that he is the winner, and recipient of a signed copy of Daniel Simon’s Timeless Racer!

So many thanks to those of you who entered! Keep showing us the great work you are doing, and stay happy, healthy and full of warmth this holiday!

Our mission is to bring you the highest quality visualization solutions possible. Period. With the holiday season in full swing, we would love to see your talents in action!

Here comes: The BUNKSPEED Digital Holiday Card Contest

What: We want to see your most spirited holiday images, rendered in BUNKSPEEDImage Specs: 1920 x 1080When: From Now until 12/16/14Send Rendered Images to: contest@bunkspeed.com. Be sure to fill out and return our jolly little image release form with your image, for maximum holiday cheer!Why: For a chance to win a signed, hardcover copy of Daniel Simon’s EPIC Timeless Racer: Episode 1 book. Click the link to see his book in all its glory: http://bit.ly/1Dj9goYWinners: Will be announced on FB, Twitter, the BUNKSPEED blog, and shouted from the rooftops on a crisp holiday evening.

We we hope this crazy mix of text and images finds you well! We are doing just fine, thank you, and have been busy spreading the Fast, Easy, Fun BUNKSPEEDmessage to all who will listen. Last week, we were honored to sponsor, along with 3DEXCITE, 2 incredible events in the Los Angeles area. They were: Cars of Characters with AutoDesignO @ Warner Bros. Studios, and Art Center’s Car Classic 2014 in Pasadena.

Both events exceeded our expectations, in terms of caliber of talent that was rallied to enhance and uplift the automotive discussion, and in creating an atmosphere of heightened creativity, leaving us thrilled and excited to be a part of it.

Check out our Social Media coverage of both events on our FB page: http://on.fb.me/1oyTzOL. Feel free to leave us a comment to make your voice heard as well!

First Up – AutoDesignO’s Cars of Character:
When we heard that AutoDesignO would be hosting their high-profile Design Panel Forum at Warner Bros. Studios, we immediately saw the value of mixing automotive design wizardry with WB’s movie magic. As you may have read previously, Chris Chapman, Chief Designer of Hyundai’s Design Center in Irvine, Frank Saucedo, Director of Advanced Design at GM Design, and Derek Jenkins, Director of Design at Mazda, North America and Marc Girard and Global Director Automotive Design at BMW, set an absolutely brilliant tone for this latest forum. Eric Noble, of CARLAB, moderated the event with both wit and grace, and it was hard to not geek out a bit as the designers divulged some juicy behind-the-scenes design wisdom.

Needless to say, we came prepared. We brought high-tech Augmented Reality (AR) demos to showcase elegant and beautiful marketing and presentation solutions, as well as an advanced 3DEXCITE Corvette Configurator, that blended the ease-of-use of an iPad, with gorgeous high-end visuals The end result was a delightfully interactive experience, as we helped guests, each in turn, configure their Stingray dream car. Also turning heads, was our co-production with Honda, Real Impact, as we demonstrated how this software facilitates highly accurate, photorealistic simulations of automotive collision events for educational and engineering advancement.

The evening was over all too soon, but we savored every moment of our ongoing and palpable connection with the automotive community.

Next Stop – Art Center’s Car Classic 2014:
Art Center is one of the world’s great design schools, so it’s no small wonder that their yearly car shows befit their international distinction.

This year’s theme was also tied to film (entitled “Street to Screen”), and packed movie cars from the likes of the Batman franchise (2 1990’s batmobiles, and the 1966 batmobile), Steve McQueen’s Porsche from Le Mans, a Fast and Furious franchise modified Honda s2000, and the unforgettable Scooby Doo Mystery Machine.

3DEXCITE and BUNKSPEEDadded a special twist to the car show experience by creating a Virtual Movie Car Show in our software, which allowed guests to place digital, photorealistic movie cars in still images (also known as backplates) of the Car Classic environs that we took early in the morning. We also brought a large AR marker that was capable of displaying a near-lifesize McLaren P1 and 650s, via a free iPad app, further showcasing the value of our cutting edge technology experiences within the automotive industry. The Corvette Configurator experience and Real Impact application also made a triumphant return at this event, we just didn’t want to bore you with talk of how cool they are again (but, yes – they’re very, very cool).

At BUNKSPEED, our job is to provide solutions to bring design, sales and marketing to life in innovative and powerful ways. When we achieve this, whether it be for an individual designer that manages his or her own small business, or a large corporation, that juggles hundreds of projects, we are motivated to reach even greater heights within the 3D Visualization World.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to provide you with the very best in rendering software and services.

Until we blog again, let’s finish up with a Steve McQueen quote straight out of LeMans:

“A lot of people go through life doing things badly. Racing’s important to men who do it well. When you’re racing, it… it’s life. Anything that happens before or after… is just waiting.”

This isn’t just any old Monday. This is the last Monday of Sept 2014, and it’s the last time the world will get a chance to catch its breath before the BUNKSPEED event machine kicks into high gear!

Let’s dive right in:

Oct 21 (TUESDAY): Cars of Character at Warner Brothers Studios. 3DEXCITE and BUNKSPEED are acting as Presenting Sponsor for AutoDesignO’s “Cars of Character” event. To give a bit of history, AutoDesignO (http://autodesigno.com/) puts on Automotive-focused Design Panel Forms for the Motor Press Guild (the largest automotive media association in North America – http://www.motorpressguild.org/about). These events have been previously held at the Petersen Automotive Museum (http://www.petersen.org/), over the last few years, but this year, they’re doing things a little differently. They’re upping the stakes by not only having this year’s Design Panel at Warner Brothers, but also by hosting some of the hottest automotive designers walking the face of this green (and blue-ish) earth: Chris Chapman, Chief Designer of Hyundai’s Design Center in Irvine, Frank Saucedo, Director of Advanced Design at GM Design, and Derek Jenkins, Director of Design at Mazda, North America.

3DEXCITE and BUNKSPEED will be hosting the event, giving media attendees an indepth look at how our products and services benefit the automotive industry’s engineering, design and marketing efforts. We’ll share pics, impressions and tall tales from the event here and on social media (Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1oyTzOL). Keep your eyes peeled, friends! But seriously. Take a nap if you need to. We don’t want a bunch of you catching narcolepsy at inconvenient times (narcolepsy is contagious, right?).

3DEXCITE and BUNKSPEED are sponsoring this event, and will be giving cutting-edge demos of our Automotive and Lifestyle software solutions and services. We’ll be packing realtime demos aplenty, folks! If you will be in the Pasadena, CA area on the 26th, come see how your products (cars or otherwise) could be displayed in a virtual showroom via Augmented Reality (AR), or how our crash simulation co-production with Honda (entitled REAL IMPACT – http://lat.ms/1BxdOBS) can lead to safer and more refined cars.

Check us OUT so we can check you IN to our bright and sunny world of 3D Visualization!

BUNKSPEEDERS UNITE! All 2014.5 Versions are here!
(or there…depending on your whereabouts in Time and Space)

The wait is over, Friends! SHOT™, PRO™ and ZOOM™ have all been updated with a plethora (yes, we are using that word) of new features and improvements, making our 2014.5 versions our hottest releases yet. Think all-out Presentation Mode in ZOOM™. Think rasterization that allows objects to reflect in other objects. Think…ok, don’t think. Upgrade now to get in on all the action!

3…2…1…ZOOM™ LaunchZOOM™ has launched, and is toting a bag of tricks like you’ve never seen before. Present your designs to key decision makers, clients or your besties easily and beautifully, using ZOOM™’s full-featured Presentation Mode. Compare multiple product configurations simultaneously, while opening up to 4 gorgeous viewports, for more productive design reviews. Simply put: ZOOM™ doesn’t quit until the job is done, and minds are blown. Click Purchase Information below to request information about how you can start using ZOOM™ today!

Siggraph – With More “Sig” and “Graph” Than Ever Before!

Siggraph 2014, held in Vancouver B.C., was the best Siggraph yet. It showcased some of the most advanced displays of new computer graphics technology, and we were right in the middle of it!

David Randle, BUNKSPEED’s General Manager, presented Bunkspeed ZOOM™ on the lightning-quick NVIDIA® Visual Computing Appliance (VCA) at the NVIDIA booth (booth #1201). Click below to view the full presentation!

The Chosen Ones: Winners of the 2014 Still Image Contest

(Above: The Grand Prize Winning Image by John Geoghegan)
Your response to our 2014 Still Image Contest call for submissions has been nothing short of heroic! BUNKSPEEDERS have rallied to send many wonderful images our way, and we are pleased to announce the following winners:

Grand prize: John Geoghegan for his Buick Riviera rendering (shown above). He walks away with a permanent license of SHOT™. Great work, John!
1st prize: Peter Hildebrandt for his Perfume Flacon rendering. He wins 1 year of BUNKSPEED SHOT™. Absolutely superb, Peter!
Honorable Mention: Once again, John Geoghegan wowed us with a beautiful rendering of some Knappogue Castle whiskey on the rocks!

All winning images are proudly displayed on our social media, blog (links below) and any other digital space we can get our hands on.

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted imagery. Ya’ll are heroes to us!